Thomas Ward
Thomas Jason Ward was a famous spook who fought the dark and was part of the Ward Family. General information Tom was a seventh son of a seventh son and because of this he had special abilites and was able to sense 'the dark'. As a seventh son of a seventh son, Tom was apprenticed to the local spook, John Gregory as his thirtieth and final apprentice. Throughout his apprenticeship, he was often referred to as 'Master Ward' or 'lad' by his master John Gregory. As well as being a seventh son of a seventh son, Tom was the son of the old god Lamia and as a result inherited various special abilities. Tom had turned out to be John Gregory's greatest apprentice, although it was later evident that there was a 'slither of darkness' inside him, making him susceptible to the dark. Biography Early life Tom was born in August and raised at Ward farm, a small farm located near Topley. Tom had six brothers, as did his father, making him a seventh son of a seventh son. Before becoming the Spook's apprentice, Tom Ward helped his father and his oldest brother with work on the farm, while his other brothers had already set out to pursue their own trades. When Tom attended school at the local church, the priests noticed he was left-handed. Because of that he was beaten, after which his mother, Mam, decided to take him out of the school to teach him herself. Hangman's Hill As a seventh son of a seventh son, Tom often saw and heard what others didn't; this made him especially sensitive to supernatural elements. Close to the farm, just outside the North Pasture was a hill upon which many civil war soldiers were hung, called Hangman's Hill. As a result of this, there were a number of lingering ghasts, which would frighten young Tom. Eventually, when it became too much for him, Mam was forced to silence them, a feat that is considered largely impossible by Spooks. 'Becoming an apprentice' Eventually, when Tom was 12, by Mam's doing, he was taken on by John Gregory, the Chipenden spook. Their first stop was at 13 Watery Lane, Horshaw, where Tom was tested to spend a night in the supposedly haunted house. Soon afterwards Tom met Alice Deane, when collecting his master's provisions. Tom was at first wary of Alice due to his master's warning against women wearing pointy shoes (and women in general). Ordeal with Mother Malkin Despite his misgivings against Alice, Tom was persuaded to give Mother Malkin, a witch bound in a pit in the Spook's garden, three blood cakes - one at midnight each night. Unbeknownst to Tom, these cakes contained human blood which made her stronger. She only needed to eat two of these cakes to build the strength required to escape her pit. Tom tried to recapture Mother Malkin without the aid of the Spook. He managed to 'kill' her, but was then captured by Bony Lizzie and the abhuman Tusk. He was imprisoned in a pit in the ground, adjacent to the bones of the Spook's, last apprentice Billy Bradley. After meeting the ghost of Bradley, he managed to persuade Alice to release him from the pit. Shortly afterwards, after a close pursuit, the Spook managed to kill Tusk and bind Bony Lizzie in a pit. Tom returned home to visit his family at Ward farm, where Snout, the local butcher, was busy slaughtering the pigs. Unbeknownst to Tom, Mother Malkin had survived and was now 'wick', meaning that she was no longer in proper human form, and was almost mushy. In this state, she possessed the pig butcher and tried to kill Tom's family. Tom managed to drive her out of the butcher's body, and she was then eaten by the pigs as she tried to escape, ensuring that she could never return. Tom then took Alice to a relative's house in Staumin near the Fylde Coast, to prevent her from returning to Pendle. Continued Apprenticeship Soon after Tom's ordeal with Mother Malkin ended, normality returned and Tom was back to being taught to be an apprentice, mainly focusing on the study of Boggarts. Tom was accompanied on many jobs, experiencing the binding of all types of boggarts. One day, the Spook was found too ill to fill his duty, so Tom was tasked with binding a boggart alone. The boggart in question was a Ripper at a church in Horshaw, who was in the process of killing a priest who was the Spook's brother. Tom proved successful in binding the Boggart, but was unable to prevent the death of the priest. Priestown and dealings with the Bane The funeral of the priest was held at Priestown Cathedral, in the town of Priestown on the Ribble river. The Spook decided to attend, not only to pay respects to his brother, but to also undertake a task that he had previously failed to carry out, destroying the Bane. During his efforts to prepare to enter the Bane's dwelling place in the Catacombs beneath the cathedral, his cousin (who was a priest that had been corrupted by the Bane) betrayed the Spook, and was locked up for the Quisitor, who denounced him as a Warlock. The Spook was sentenced to burning, alongside other falsely accused witches. Tom was forced to enter the catacombs in order to release the Spook from prison. However, when he arrived in the prison, the Spook had already been taken for questioning, and so he was unable to free him. In the meantime however, he was able to free Alice, who was also a prisoner of the Quisitor. On their second attempt to retrieve the Spook, The Bane visited Tom, Alice and Andrew Gregory in their dreams. Tom was able to resist, but he awoke to find Alice at the 'Silver Gate', the only barrier preventing the Bane from escaping. She had made a deal with the Bane. In return for allowing it to be released, the Bane promised to help her, in return for her blood. The Spook and the other prisoners were taken up to the nearby Beacon Fell to be burned at the stake. Tom and Alice journeyed to the Fell, and used the Bane to secure the Spook's freedom. Tom and Alice took the Spook to the Ward farm, and Tom's Mam healed the Spook. Tom, the Spook and Alice journeyed to Heysham, the burial site of many of the Segantii, or the Little People, to track down the person who managed to bind the Bane in Priestown. This person was Naze, who, like Tom and the Spook, was the seventh son of a seventh son. He told them that he too had to sign a pact with the Bane. If it was ever to be freed, and then returned to Priestown, it would forever be bound in the catacombs, where it could be killed. The three returned to Priestown, with the knowledge that, if the Bane was to be killed, the energy released would be so great that those present would almost certainly be killed, forcing the Spook to insist that Tom remain outside. Tom did not feel comfortable with this, so he entered the catacombs anyway to assist. Once in the catacombs, Alice once again summoned The Bane, who was then killed by Tom whilst it was drinking Alice's Blood. Tom was killed by the energy released by the death of the creature. Alice was distraught, so used her magic to ressurect him. The Spook was disgusted by this, so upon their return to Chipenden resolved to bind Alice in a pit. Tom used knowledge of the Spook's love, a Lamia witch called Meg Skelton, to force him to let Alice go. The Spook allowed Alice to stay, in return for copying books and teaching them more about witches. Physical Appearance Although the book doesn't describe Tom directly, it is shown that he has short dark brown hair and green eyes. It has also been hinted that he is of average height for his age. Throughout the books, Tom receives a couple scars from battles he has fought, such as when the water witch Morwena took hold of his ear, nearly tearing it. When battling Bony Lizzie, Tom also received a vertical slash directly under his hairline. The most prominent of his scars though are the finger-nail indentions left by Alice from the first book, marking him as hers. The scars left by Alice protects Tom from being taken over by other witches such as Mab Mouldheel. When Alice returns from the dark after being seized by the fiend, she recognizes the mark allowing her to understand that she's in the real world. However, this scar vanishes after Alice turns into a malevolent witch after falling in love with Lukastra. It could have vanished due to the fact that Alice no longer sees Tom as hers. In the Spooks Revenge, Tom receives a scar after a fight with Lukastra running from his eye across his cheek. The scarring is helped by Grimalkin but she could not get rid of all the scarring leaving a faint white line. Powers and Abilities List of Powers *'Mediumship': Tom has the natural ability of all seventh sons, of seventh sons to speak and hear the dead, and spirits past. *'Magical Skill': Although being a spook is considered a craft, all spooks are capable of performing feats of magic, but are forbidden to do so because all the dark can sense when someone uses magic. For example, Tom used a mirror to communicate with Alice. *'Linguistic Ability': Tom can read and write Greek, and although he has trouble with Latin, he is a fast learner. *'Marksmenship': By the fourth book Tom can whip his chain around a post 9 times in a row, eventually being able to get 10 times in a row in later books. *'Sensing': Tom can sense the presence of a witch or who is a witch more accurately than his master or other spooks. *'Will Power': Tom displays great will power by withstanding the temptations of both The Fiend, The Bane, Golgoth, and the other old gods. *'Tainted Blood': Tom's blood can't reveal any secrets about himself to other creatures of the dark. For example, The Ordeen didn't know who Tom was even though he offered it his own blood. *'Premonitions/Immitations of Death': Tom can smell death on a person; the stronger the smell the closer the person is to death and the fainter the scent the farther away they are away from death. Death takes on the smell of flowers. Tom inherited this ability from his mother. *'Time Manipulation': Tom can stop or slow the flow of time in such a way that he can catch a knife in midflight. For example, Tom caught a knife thrown at him by Grimalkin while he was running away from her in The Spook's Battle. SPOILER ALERT: Tom also used his time manipulation powers to bind the Fiend. *'Immunity': Tom, along with other seventh sons, of seventh sons are immune to long range sniffing of witch's and are immune to the Siren's song *'Poisonous Blood': Tom's blood is poisenous towards gods, it was proved when Siscoi the Romanian old vampire God tried to suck out his blood. The god and his avatar immediately died. Tom's mother later told him that his blood was like poison to gods. The Spook's: Blood (Lure of the Dead) *'The Hunter': This gives him the ability to be able to know where his enemies are. Mam made sure that Tom discovered this power early so that he could track down the beings who stole the Fiends head. However, this is not always reliable as it was shown in the Spooks Revenge when he couldn't find where Alice and Lukastra was hiding. He believed this was due to their whereabouts being cloaked by magic. Mam described Tom as the hunter of the dark. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son powers As the seventh son of a seventh son Tom has gifts such as being able to see and interact with Ghosts and Ghasts, and being hidden from the long-sniffing of witches. Powers inherited from Mam Tom has the ability to "squeeze" time, similar or the same way that the Fiend can, however to a lesser extent, probably because of his lack of experience with the power. He can also sense the location of certain things, this sense was awakened by his Mam. He could possibly, although definitely not yet mentioned or confirmed, have inherited other lamia powers from Tom's Mam, Lamia herself. In ''Spook's: Dark Assassin'', it is revealed'' that Tom also has a feral form that he can transform into in around an hour, much faster than a normal lamia who may take weeks or months to fully transform to their feral form. In this form Tom describes feeling a need to drink his enemys' blood. When Tom sees his reflection he says that he looks more human than lamian with his face elongated and a wider mouth. He also says that his teeth are as pointy as Grimalkin's and he is covered in greenish scales. After a few hours he turns back to his human form and he describes his skin as being perfect without blemish. Physical Abilities Tom, being trained by the Spooks, is fairly skilled in using, and fighting with, his staff, silver chain and his recently found, Destiny Blade . However not much is revealed about his physical abilities apart from that, when he fought Grimalkin (a practice fight), in The Spook's Destiny, using both his power to manipulate time and his physical abilities, he won over, and nearly killed, the witch assassin in the fight. Bill Arkwright also taught Tom to swim, which many people of that day could not do. Relationships Alice Deane '']]There are many hints that Tom has feelings for Alice Deane, and that they are in fact in love, but just don't know it yet - admitted when Alice almost dies and Tom was more upset than even when his father died. There is also parts were he compares the two of them to John Gregory and Meg Skelton, who used to be in love and still have feelings for one and other. Tom first meets Alice in ''The Spook's Apprentice when she saves him from a group of boys about to beat him up. She then asks for a favour to be completed at some point, and Tom agrees. When the Spook is away, she asks him to feed Mother Malkin three cakes, two of which Tom feeds her before he catches on, which helps her get free. Tom is later captured by Bony Lizzie, but Alice then helps him escape. When the Spook sends her to her aunt's, they stop at Jack's farm, where Tom and Alice defeat Mother Malkin. Their first hint of romace is when Alice told tom about her terrible home life, then reachss across and grabs his hand, staying kike that for a while. The two become close throughout the series, Alice seeming rather attached to him and is always fighting by his side. He seemes to take a liking to her as well, noticing when she looks pretty and when shge gabs his hand and things. There are also times when Alice has been known to get jealous if she thinks a girl is interested in Tom (Mab Mouldheel). Tom often shows great concern for her and has mentioned that he can't live without her. The two are also linked closely by a blood jar until The Spook's Destiny (Rage of the Fallen), where it is cracked and Alice is taken to the dark by the Fiend. At the end of the fifth book the two share their first kiss, before Alice is banished by the Spook for Pendle. In the eighth book as Alice is being taken to the dark by the Fiend, Tom is filled with agony and admits the loss is even worse then that of his mam. In this moment he realizes his true feelings for Alice, and admits to himself that he is in love with her. In the Spooks Revenge, after Alice turns into a malevolent witch, she starts a relationship with Lukastra, a powerful mage who has used the Doomdryte to gain power, after the revelation of their relationship Tom decides against thinking of Alice Deane in such a way again, this especially heart breaking to Tom as it is mentioned that both Alice and Lukrasta shared a bed. In Spook's The Dark Army, however, Alice reveals that Lukrasta has been killed by the kobalos and that she only went with him at the old god Pan's request so as to combine their magic. Alice had no love for Lucrasta. Every moment she was away from Tom, her heart ached to be with him. When they meet again, they rekindle what they once had and even take it a step further. In Spook's Dark Assasin the two are still together but Alice leaves for Pendle, and unknown to Tom restarts her relationship with the alive Lukrasta. He tells Akice to kill Tom, and her eyes turn to hatred, but she ends up killing Lukrasta instead. He saw her eyes however and says he doesn't trust her, leaving Alice to send him home without her. However, thhey are reunited at the very end, but you are unsure of his reaction, but you can suspect its one of relief. John Gregory John Gregory is the 'master' of Tom - Tom is in an apprenticeship with Gregory to become a Spook. The relationship is a difficult one as Tom is often left annoyed by the Spook disliking Alice and not letting them be together, but he also really looks up to him and the Spook is like a father figure in his lifw, so he is left extremly upset when he is left without him. The Fiend TBA Mab Mouldheel Tom and Mab have a complicated relationship. Tom first meets Mab at the beginning of The Spook's Battle, where she claims to know where Alice is, when in fact she kidnapped Alice. She takes Tom to meet her sisters, Beth and Jennet. She tries to kiss Tom and make him her's forever, but Alice's brand keeps him safe. Later, he helps Mab get into Malkin Tower to steal his trunks, but Mab turns on him, so he then wakes up his mother's sisters with the "Kiss of the Moon". He then makes fun of Mab for not even ruling Pendle for a day, and then she says that she would help summon The Fiend. Tom has threatened that he would one day throw Mab into a pit as well, marking her as a partial enemy until the 6th book, when her help is needed by his mother. Their relationship is further complicated when Mab predicts and tells Tom about Alice's death at the hands of lamia witches, which he angrily rejects (later this comes true when a lamia witch seizes Alice and drags her down into the earth. Tom uses a dark wish to save Alice). When seeing Alice alive, Mab appears to be angry. Grimalkin Tom and the witch assassin of the malkin clan have a very peculiar relationship. Tom, being a seventh son of a seventh son, is a natural enemy of the dark, and vice versa. However, Tom and Grimalkin are considered friends as well as allies in the fight against the Fiend. Even though she once attempted to kill Tom, Grimalkin has saved his life on numerous occasions. She has now allied herself with Tom, the Spook and Alice in order to destroy the Fiend. She had him bound and was in control of his head, whilst the other three were finding a way to destroy the fiend forever. Grimalkin feared that, in the ordeal the four are in, not all of them will survive. However, it was lost and reunited with the body and a great battle was fought near the Wardstone, resulting in the death of John Gregory. The skelts of Tulkas destroyed the fiend, although really Tulkas just absorbed his power. Family Mam- Who which Tom is extremly close to. Dad - Who cared for Tom till his death. Jack - His older brother, who dislikes his work. James -The second oldest, who helps the Spook in Pendle. Jonathan (brother)-Third oldest, not in book. Michael (brother)-Fourth oldest, not in book Brian (brother)- Fifth oldest, not in book. William (brother) -Sixth oldest, not in book. Ellie- Jacks wife, whose kind but hates Spook work Mary-Jack and Ellie's daughter, Toms niece. Unnamed uncle Friends, allies and enimies. Alice -Closest friend, love interest, lover The Spook-Friend, mentor Bill Arkwright-Mentor Mab Mouldheel- Frienemes, has crush on Tom. Grimalkin- Witch assasin, frienemes. Appearances * The Spook's Apprentice * The Spook's Curse * The Spook's Secret * The Spook's Battle * The Spook's Mistake * The Spook's Sacrifice * The Spook's Nightmare * The Spook's Destiny * The Spook's: I Am Grimalkin * The Spook's Blood * The Spook's: Slither's Tale * The Spook's: Alice * The Spook's Revenge * Spook's: A New Darkness * Spook's: The Dark Army * The Spook's Stories: Witches ** The Banshee Witch Trivia *The names of Tom's brothers are Jack, James, Jonathon, Michael, Brian and William, confirmed by Joseph Delaney's Q&A on https://www.spooksworld.co.uk/ His birthday is August 3rd, making his zodiac sign a Leo. *Although Tom fights against the dark and what it contains, he has used dark magic (with good intentions) on more than one occasion. *On more than one occasion, it has been hinted that Tom will become one of the strongest Spooks to ever roam the County, and possibly the world. This was his mother's "gift" to the County. *Since his Mam is Lamia (the original Lamia witch) he was technically affiliated with the dark since birth. Category:The Spook's Apprentice characters Category:Spooks Category:Male characters Category:Apprentices of John Gregory Category:The Light Category:Seventh Son Characters Category:Humans Category:County-born Category:The Spook's Curse Characters Category:The Spook's Nightmare Characters Category:The Spook's Sacrifice Characters Category:The Spook's Secret Characters Category:The Spook's Battle Characters Category:The Spook's Mistake Characters Category:The Spook's Blood Characters Category:The Spook's Revenge Characters Category:Spook's: A New Darkness Characters Category:Spook's: The Dark Army Characters Category:Spook's: Dark Assassin Characters Category:The Spook's Bestiary characters Category:The Spook's Destiny characters